eero Secure is router-level home internet protection that keeps everyone safe

Today’s online landscape is a minefield, and all of us - young and old - are susceptible to falling prey to malicious attacks targeting our privacy and personal data. Cyber security isn’t just something big businesses need to be concerned with, it’s just as critical for us to keep our homes and everyday lives protected too.

The average Australian household has 18.7 internet-enabled devices in their home, and each device poses its own threat. Even your smart fridge, smart thermostat, or your smart yoga mat (yep, it’s a thing) are entry points that hackers can use to attack your home network.

This is where your router acts like the doorway to your cyber protection. If your router is secure, then everything working within those walls should be safe too.
At Superloop, we recommend customers on NBN Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP), Fibre-to-the-Curb (FTTC), and Hybrid Fibre Coaxial (HFC) connections to use the eero 6+ router because it’s considered one of the best and safest routers available on the market today.  

(You could be overdue to replace your router. Here's how to tell)

In previous blogs, we’ve discussed the benefits of a mesh network using an eero router and the advantages of setting up guest profiles, so now we’re diving into the eero’s cyber security features that can help keep you and your household protected from cyber attacks.  

Phishing up the wrong tree

Viruses and phishing are forms of cyber attack that can put yourself and your family at risk of financial or identity theft. If you work from home, these cyber threats can also seriously impact the company you work for too.

If you grew up with the internet, especially in its early days, you’ll be familiar with computer viruses. When a virus enters a computer, it attacks and changes files, and when you open that file, the virus is unleashed. Viruses are the only type of malware (malicious software) that can change other files as well. They are less prevalent as they once were, but can still cause problems when one attaches itself to your device.

Phishing attacks often work in emails where the “from” field looks like it’s legit but is actually from a hacker. These sometimes look like warnings about passwords expiring, postal delivery notification, or exceeding data storage quotas. In 2020, hackers even used COVID-19 information as bait to lure victims into opening emails and clicking on dodgy links. Attacks may also target people directly using other methods such as social media or messaging apps like Whatsapp.

(What are the biggest malware threats around today? Here are the top 10)

The eero Secure constantly monitors and updates the most recent phishing and virus threats around, and checks websites for legitimacy to ensure they aren’t fraudulent and there’s no hidden malware.

All devices connected to your Wi-Fi are protected too, including anyone on your guest network, and you can check up on the stats of how much spyware and malware that eero Secure has blocked using their insights and analytics. You can even receive a weekly email recapping network scans, blocked threats, and other network insights.    

Join the block party

Pop-up ads suck. They’re intrusive, they always get in the way, they slow down page load speed, and the designers who hide the miniscule x button to close the pop-up ad should be deeply, deeply ashamed of themselves.

Even worse, some ads can be infected with malware (known as malvertising) and could cause people to go to illegitimate sites that either install malware on your device or trick you into believing it’s real and stealing your financial or personal details.

The eero Secure blocks these and many other forms of ads and prevents advertisers from tracking your movements all across the internet. So, you know when you go to an online retailer and check something out and then spend the next month (or more!) being blasted with that same or similar products over and over? The eero Secure should block most - if not all - of these kinds of tracking and tagging.

Every day I’m filterin’

Again, we discussed this a little in a previous blog, but the content filtering settings on the eero can really be a godsend to parents. A regular eero account allows you to pause Wi-Fi access to profiles or devices assigned to a profile, so if you want your kids to get off the internet and go to bed already, you can block all their devices from getting online. Torture, sure, but it does send a clear message that mum and/or dad are NOT messing around.

With an eero Secure account, you can go deeper and more specific with your filtering. You can do broad sweeps of content filtering and blocking, say blocking all adult content or blocking all of Youtube. But if you think your kid is ready for some social media but you’re not keen on them getting onto, say, Reddit or TikTok, you can filter for specific sites and block access as needed.

These controls, again, can be done on individual profiles, so parents can still access the naughty things and the kids are none the wiser. Or for things like violent or illegal content, you may want to apply these filters across the entire network. The power is in your hands.  

Get to know what’s what

As mentioned earlier, the eero Secure also shows you some key insights that help you understand what’s happening on your home network.

On a regular eero account, you can easily access your weekly data usage and see which devices and which profiles are using the most data. While most internet plans these days are unlimited, you might use these insights to see and track how much the kids are downloading and maybe not doing so much of the studying or the sleeping.  

With eero Secure, you can go a lot deeper. You can see how frequently different profiles and devices are triggering the content filters you’ve set up and see historical data on what’s being used. So, if you’ve blocked, say, Reddit, for example, on your kid’s profile, you can see how many times they’ve tried to access the site and/or try to bypass the content filter.

You also get a weekly email going over security things, like I mentioned earlier, as well as data usage and other insights that help you keep a tight lid on your home internet.

It’s free, you say?

So, I’ve blathered on about these cool security features, but left the best bit to last. If you’re a Superloop customer and you have an eero router, as of December 9, 2021, we’re giving you access to eero Secure for free, saving you the usual $5/month subscription fee.

And it’s free for however long you’re a Superloop customer too!

If you don’t have an eero, but want one, you can pick one up in your Members Area – assuming your home gets an NBN FTTP, FTTC, or HFC connection. You might be well overdue for a router upgrade anyway.

To us, security is of utmost importance. That’s why we take this seriously.